Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Zhang Tingwen
After market hours on April 22, JinkoSolar (688223. SH) disclosed its 2023 annual report, with revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan for the first time, and net profit attributable to the parent company increasing by 153.20% year-on-year.
In 2023, JinkoSolar's gross profit margin will rise against the trend due to the intensification of "involution" in the PV industry, the decline in module prices and the fluctuation of raw material prices.
On April 22, JinkoSolar said that the company mainly uses the innovation of production mode to reduce costs, and also emphasized that in the future, it will accelerate the elimination of outdated production capacity, prudently expand production, and accumulate strength to pass through the cycle.
JinkoSolar expects its advanced wafer, cell and module production capacity to reach 120GW, 110GW and 130GW respectively by the end of 2024, of which N-type capacity will exceed 100GW.
Module shipments ranked first in the industry, and the proposed dividend will exceed 2 billion yuan
In 2023, JinkoSolar's revenue and net profit will both increase, of which revenue will reach 100 billion yuan to 118.682 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.55%, and net profit attributable to the parent company will be 7.440 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 153.20%.
During the same period, JinkoSolar's basic earnings per share increased by 146.67% year-on-year, and the basic earnings per share after deducting non-profits increased by 146.43% year-on-year. The company plans to distribute a dividend of 2.24 yuan (tax included) to all shareholders for every 10 shares, with a total dividend of 2.235 billion yuan (tax included), accounting for 30.03% of the net profit attributable to the parent company.
JinkoSolar said that in the next three years, the company will achieve profitability in the current year, and after withdrawing the statutory provident fund and surplus reserve fund in accordance with the law, if there is no major investment plan or major cash expenditure, the proposed cumulative cash dividend will not be less than 30% of the average annual distributable profit in the last three years, and actively explore plans such as multiple dividends and medium-term dividends in one year.
JinkoSolar's high performance in 2023 was mainly due to the increase in PV module shipments. According to InfoLink Consulting, Jinko's module shipments ranked first in the industry that year, with a total of 83.56GW of solar PV products shipped to the world, including 78.52GW of PV module shipments.
In 2023, PV module prices will decline and raw material prices will fluctuate, but in this context, JinkoSolar will also achieve gross profit margin growth, with its gross profit margin of 14.21% in 2023, an increase of 3.74 percentage points year-on-year.
Times Finance noticed that JinkoSolar has also begun to apply granular silicon, which has a comparative advantage in terms of cost, and the proportion of granular silicon in non-directional orders has increased. On April 22, JinkoSolar said that the application of granular silicon in cost control is only one aspect, and the main thing is to reduce costs through the innovation of production models.
In the wave of crazy "involution" of technology in the photovoltaic industry, JinkoSolar has actively developed N-type products, and maintained a leading position in technology and mass production scale.
In terms of technology, its R&D and mass production of high-efficiency N-type batteries continue to make breakthroughs. In 2023, JinkoSolar's N-type TOPCon cells will have a maximum efficiency of 26.89%, and N-type TOPCon-based perovskite tandem cells will reach a maximum efficiency of 32.33%. By the end of 2023, the average efficiency of JinkoSolar's N-type cells in mass production exceeded 25.8%, and by the first quarter of 2024, the average efficiency of mass production has exceeded 26%, and the power of N-type modules is about 30W higher than that of P-type products of the same version.
By the end of 2023, JinkoSolar had put into operation more than 70GW of high-efficiency N-type cell production capacity, and shipped 48.41GW of N-type modules in 2023, up 352% year-on-year, accounting for about 62% of its module shipments.
JinkoSolar said that the company has given full play to the advantages of N-type TOPCon technology as a "chain master enterprise", predicted in advance, responded flexibly, carried out a variety of supply guarantee measures, and actively explored new materials and new solutions, and continuously improved the construction of the supply ecological chain around the company to ensure long-term supply and cost competitiveness.
Prudent expansion of production, accumulation through the cycle
By the end of 2023, JinkoSolar's vertically integrated production capacity will reach 85GW, 90GW and 110GW in the three core segments of wafers, cells and modules, respectively, with an integrated capacity matching rate of more than 85%.
In May 2023, JinkoSolar announced that it would plan to build a vertically integrated base project with an annual output of 56GW (hereinafter referred to as the "Shanxi Base") in the Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone, with a total investment of about 56 billion yuan, with the first phase of 14GW of the project scheduled to be put into operation on March 26 this year, and the second phase of 14GW is expected to be put into operation in the second quarter of this year.
The construction of the Shanxi base includes 56GW of monocrystalline rods, 56GW of silicon wafers, 56GW of high-efficiency cells and 56GW of module production capacity. For the first time in the industry, the project integrates the three links of silicon wafer, cell and module integration, and connects each production line through a digital intelligent system, with automated transportation, three-dimensional warehouse and automatic warehousing, and will build an N-type integrated factory with leading production and operation efficiency and cost competitiveness.
In 2024, N-type technology will continue to dominate the overall industry, and N-type products will account for 70% or more of all aspects of silicon wafers, cells, and modules.
Although technologies such as BC and HJT continue to iterate, the progress of large-scale market promotion is slow due to cost, yield, patents, etc., and it will take time for crystalline silicon and perovskite tandems to be put into mass production, so the iterative upgrading of technologies based on N-type TOPCon is expected to dominate in the future.
JinkoSolar said that 2024 is an important year to face intensified competition in the industry and prepare to cross the industry cycle. By the end of 2024, JinkoSolar is expected to have advanced production capacity of 120GW, 110GW and 130GW respectively, of which N-type capacity will exceed 100GW.
At the same time, JinkoSolar will strive to increase the average mass production efficiency of N-type cells to 26.5% by the end of 2024, and continue to show advantages in N-type integrated costs compared with its peers, strive to achieve the annual shipment target of 100-110GW, of which N-type shipments account for nearly 90%, continue to expand "PV+" application scenarios, strengthen the in-depth layout in energy storage, BIPV and other fields, form a number of landmark application projects, and actively promote and lead the high-quality development of the industry.
Globally, in 2023, JinkoSolar further expanded its globally integrated supply chain, including factories in Southeast Asia, and had the industry's largest overseas integrated production capacity of more than 12GW of wafers, cells and modules by the end of 2023.
At present, its products have been sold to more than 190 countries and regions around the world, covering more than 3,000 customers around the world, establishing more than 120 global marketing branches, and the number of global service centers has reached 35, and the market share in various emerging markets around the world continues to increase.
In addition to the main business of photovoltaic modules, JinkoSolar is also exploring new growth points.
In 2023, its 4GWh energy storage system production line was successfully put into operation, and the subsequent battery and system production capacity was built in an orderly manner. JinkoSolar said that the company will firmly adhere to the strategic layout of the new energy storage industry.
JinkoSolar has also made progress in the field of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV), with its total BIPV shipments exceeding 100 megawatts in 2023.
In addition, in 2023, JinkoSolar's ESG rating will be upgraded by two consecutive levels, and its latest annual ESG rating at Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (MSCI) jumped to "BBB", which is the highest score of MSCI, a mainstream PV company. As part of its efforts to manage its carbon footprint, JinkoSolar has pledged to use 100% renewable energy by 2028. In addition, the company participates in the Science Feasible Targets (SBTi) initiative, which aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain by 2050.